William Wordsworth once said, “the world is too much with us”, meaning that society can sometimes be too much for the individual. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald portrays New York City in the twentieth century as “too much” for his protagonist, Jay Gatsby; no matter how hard he tries, he cannot adapt to the society he lives in. Gatsby aspires to adhere to his society in order to attract the attention of Daisy Buchanan, the woman who lives across the lake whom Gatsby believes he loves. Gatsby plans his every move obsessively and attempts to act as though he is a gentleman, in hopes that it will enable him to blend in with the people around him. Despite his many efforts, however, Gatsby’s society rejects him; they disregard him for making his money through illegal means, as opposed to inheriting the money, as most people in Gatsby’s society have done. Although he spends his entire life attempting to become a …show more content…
Gatsby believes that throwing lavish parties will gain him the approval of both Daisy and his society, as Daisy’s friend Jordan explains, “‘I think he half expected her to wander into one of his parties, some night,’ went on Jordan, ‘but she never did. Then he began asking people casually if they knew her, and I was the first one he found.’” (Pg. 84) Gatsby believes that he can gain Daisy’s attention and approval through the other guests who attend his party, and therefore, he chooses to throw many parties in order to gain her attention. Gatsby hopes that he can only attract Daisy’s attention if he becomes one of the people who live in his society, but he ultimately fails to fulfill either goal, as Daisy and the people of Gatsby’s society never give Gatsby the attention he
As depicted by Scott F. Fitzgerald, the 1920s is an era of a great downfall both socially and morally. As the rich get richer, the poor remain to fend for themselves, with no help of any kind coming their way. Throughout Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby, the two “breeds” of wealthier folk consistently butt heads in an ongoing battle of varying lifestyles. The West Eggers, best represented by Jay Gatsby, are the newly rich, with little to no sense of class or taste. Their polar opposites, the East Eggers, are signified by Tom and Daisy Buchanan; these people have inherited their riches from the country’s wealthiest old families and treat their money with dignity and social grace. Money, a mere object in the hands of the newly wealthy, is unconscientiously squandered by Gatsby in an effort to bring his only source of happiness, Daisy, into his life once again. Over the course of his countless wild parties, he dissipates thousands upon thousands of dollars in unsuccessful attempts to attract Daisy’s attention. For Gatsby, the only way he could capture this happiness is to achieve his personal “American Dream” and end up with Daisy in his arms. Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy is somewhat detrimental to himself and the ones around him; his actions destroy relationships and ultimately get two people killed.
Gatsby, alluding to his wealthy nature, throws parties for complete strangers because he wants to maintain his wealthy reputation, and ultimately he wants to impress Daisy, the woman he
In conclusion, The Great Gatsby reveals the carelessness and shallowness of the characters in the upper class. Society is totally corrupted and the character’s lives revolve around the money and extravagant lifestyles. All of the characters are surrounded with expensive and unnecessary itms, which in turn, dulls their dream of actual success. Scott F. Fitzgerald provides a powerful and everlasting message of a corrupt, materialistic society and the effects that it has on the idea of the American dream.